"Marching"

 

Linette Reeman is a junior at CHS who attends creative writing classes at Brookdale and recently won the Regional Scholastic Gold Key Award for her poetry.

"Marching"

the seasons get warmer, and the mistakes

etched into my skin are peeling.

i paint my lips and bite my tongue,

and we have post-marital bliss curling

a smirk from your lips to mine. i get colder;

this winter will leave us afraid of the future.

i count cards and pack boxes,

you string lights and starve yourself.

i miss you when i’m off marching.

—then we’re okay; you’re leaving soon,

but it’s my turn first. i go to Washington

 and sweat regrets through the thin sheets.

you miss me when i’m off marching.

you leave to go to school, and i drown myself

in words; i bleed faintly from aesthetic surgery,

but you bring the red to my cheeks and lips.

the mistakes are fading; the regrets receding.

you string lights as i unpack boxes. 

there’s a spark at the end of the street

when you drive me home;

maybe next year won’t be as cold. 

- Linette Reeman, '14

CHS